Assortment

Feels Like Spring

 

Two of the past three days were sunny, near 60° and oh-so-spring-like. It was really no surprise then when my early-morning time was spent scrolling through my garden board, then typing things like 'greenhouse', 'cold frame', and 'fruit cage' into the search engine, and taking notes on what I found. No surprise, either, when my daytime was spent out in that sunshine, rake in hand, cleaning up, getting ready. 

 

 

Time to plan the garden (and in the mean time, plant some late-bloom pots of narcissus and a tray or two of wheat grass). Time to plan landscaping (now's a great time, when there's neither snow nor grass to obscure the ground). Time to decide where the raspberries and strawberries will go (and how to protect them). Time to choose which kind of tree to plant in that spot where the odd, abandoned flower bed is. Time to inventory hoses and sprinklers. Time to come up with an irrigation plan that will be better than last year (we inherited the keeping of nearly five acres of lawn). 

 

 

There's such promise in the air when spring is near. I'm ready to rouse from winter. Ready for green, ready for growth, ready for bloom. 

You too?

 Photo sources: 1/2/3/4

 

 

Have you been looking for a tastefully designed, small house plan that lives large? You may just find what you've been seeking in the Shelter Collection - four small floor plans designed for gracious living in 900-1400 square feet. Find the study plans & building plans here.

With What You Have | 40

 

Words about contentment inspired this series that celebrates ingenuity, creativity, and resourcefulness. Join me in the comments and share what you've done with what you have. 

 

When considering the space we have to work with in our homes, we so often think of the horizontal space only: shelf space, closet length, floor space, drawer size, etc. This becomes our focus, and when we become hooked on looking through this linear lens only, we often calculate an errant sum of the amount of space we actually have. Here's a key that will unlock more space than you knew you had: think vertically.

We live in three dimensions, after all, so why not use them? 

 

 

With an influx of iPads into our house at the beginning of the school year, came the quandry of where to store and charge them. After trying a few different horizontal solutions around the little house that were not working well, I decided to use the other dimension that I had, and apply the vertical trick. Enter: a wall-mount magazine rack* tucked behind the end table in the living room. The outlet nearby makes for quick plug-in for a recharge.

 

I'm a big proponent of not filling every inch of space in a house, walls included. Rooms need to breathe and the eyes need open spaces to land. So, for this vertical situation, I chose white for the magazine rack, which makes it 'disappear' into the wall, therefore not causing an interruption in the visual calm of the room.

Now there's an easy-access, unobtrusive place just for the iPads. This works.

Do what you can with what you have.

 

Wishing you a lovely weekend, friends!

 

*I bought this double rack and had my carpenter zip it in two with his table saw. I plan to use the other half in the master bedroom.

 

 

Have you been looking for a tastefully designed, small house plan that lives large? You may just find what you've been seeking in the Shelter Collection - four small floor plans designed for gracious living in 900-1400 square feet. Peruse the study plans & building plans here.

Three Small Things

 

 

 

 

When I was young, we had an adopted set of grandparents (even though we had two sets of our own, we tended to pick up extras along the way). They lived in a small log house off a road that wound through the trees near a Montana mountain town. The house had a deep covered porch across one end and on that porch, near the door, hung a straw broom. Every morning, that broom was whisked back and forth across the porch floor, then returned to its hook. 

Ever since then, in my mind, a porch should have a straw broom. Even if it's a tiny hill-billy porch that was supposed to be temporary, but will soon be going into its fourth year. Hill-billy porches need sweeping, too. And when the hook for the broom is a simple wrought iron one, all the better. 

And houses need numbers, or so the holiday fill-in delivery people have reminded me every year: Is this number four? (Oops! Sorry about that.) It's just that I didn't want a $2 made in China number tacked to our house. It's a small thing, maybe even a silly thing, but I was sure I could do better. Enter this vintage porcelain house number that was still secure in its original paper package with the proud words Made in the USA printed on it. Ebay, I love you. 

A house number, a broom, and a hook. Not all things on my to do list are big. Thank goodness there are smaller projects like these in the mix, keeping the cross-off factor high while delivering that luscious feeling of accomplishment. Ten minutes with a drill and screwdriver on a sunny afternoon, and the little house became even better. 

 

 

Have you been looking for a tastefully designed, small house plan that lives large? You may just find what you've been seeking in the Shelter Collection - four small floor plans designed for gracious living in 900-1400 square feet. Peruse the study plans & building plans here.